Sleep Apnea Support Group
Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. People with sleep apnea partially awaken as they struggle to breathe, but in the morning they may not be aware of sleep disturbances.
Patience....patience....patience. Badly needed....sorely lacking at times. Yes...I'm guilty of it. I want to be cured or "normal" before all of this started Aug 2011.
I was first diagnosed with psychophysiological insomnia in Nov 2011. I was a mess.....could only sleep about 2 hours with Ambien. It wasn't until April 2012 that I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea (AHI of 25....on cpap therapy). I suspect the sleep apnea contributed to the chronic insomnia (combined with my controlling, freaking out nature). I do see progress.....and any progress is encouraging for all of us!! Below are my average sleep hours/night by month (I'm an accountant.....yes....a detailed guy):
Nov '11 - 3.4
Dec '11 - 4.8
Jan '12 - 5.75
Feb '12 - 5.85
Mar '12 - 6.06
Apr '12 - 6.19
May '12 - 6.55
June '12 (so far) - 7.06
So I'm still tired and have the "head" things going on (sometimes I call it fogginess....sometimes I don't know what to call it) but it appears to be improving.
It appears I still have a considerable sleep debt to pay back. I've read many people who sleep 10 hrs or more with sleep apnea. I wonder why I can't sleep that long to recover more quickly. The answer may be that I'm still recovering from the primary insomnia as evidenced by the slow increase in sleep time above.
So I end where I started.....patience....patience......patience!
I was first diagnosed with psychophysiological insomnia in Nov 2011. I was a mess.....could only sleep about 2 hours with Ambien. It wasn't until April 2012 that I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea (AHI of 25....on cpap therapy). I suspect the sleep apnea contributed to the chronic insomnia (combined with my controlling, freaking out nature). I do see progress.....and any progress is encouraging for all of us!! Below are my average sleep hours/night by month (I'm an accountant.....yes....a detailed guy):
Nov '11 - 3.4
Dec '11 - 4.8
Jan '12 - 5.75
Feb '12 - 5.85
Mar '12 - 6.06
Apr '12 - 6.19
May '12 - 6.55
June '12 (so far) - 7.06
So I'm still tired and have the "head" things going on (sometimes I call it fogginess....sometimes I don't know what to call it) but it appears to be improving.
It appears I still have a considerable sleep debt to pay back. I've read many people who sleep 10 hrs or more with sleep apnea. I wonder why I can't sleep that long to recover more quickly. The answer may be that I'm still recovering from the primary insomnia as evidenced by the slow increase in sleep time above.
So I end where I started.....patience....patience......patience!
The figures listed from Nov 11 to June are the total average number of hours of sleep for each month. In the month of November I averaged about 3.4 hours of sleep per night. I was trying to demonstrate that total sleep time seems to be getting better over time but very slow in my view.
I started cpap on April 10 of this year.
I had signed up for that webinar too. I wasn't able to be present during the live webinar but I was able to listen to the recording. Thanks for the encouraging note. I didn't sleep well at all last night but I'm not worried about it. I have one of these "sleepless" nights about every 3 weeks.
These "sleepless" nights are a little strange. I'm tired but for some reason my body/mind just won't allow me to sleep. I know that I did sleep but it was the kind where I was awake much of the night or in light stage 1 or 2 sleep. I cannot link it to anything in particular emotionally or physically. Like I said....it doesn't really bother me as I know that my body/brain is still in healing mode.
I kind of like the feeling of these sleepless nights....my head is fairly clear but I'm VERY fatigued. I almost prefer fatigue over a cloudy/achy head. I also know that I will sleep much better tonight.
Pardon this silly question but how is it that you kept track of how much you slept per night? I have mild apnea and from what I recall, my machine only keeps track of breathing interruptions and not actually if you are awake or not.
thanks
My sleep took a serious turn for the worse in the summer of 2010, significantly, abuptly. Come to find out I've got PTSD and repressed memories.
That, in part, was part of the disastrous experience with a CPAP, coupled with a sloppy sleep study.
I intend to do another sleep study late this year, and try the machine after the first of the year, when my HSA is replenished and I can afford to try it. My AHI was only just above 6 so my sleep apnea is not at the danger levels of crisis.
I have found a supplement, Gabatrol, that hugely helps the anxiety.
I used to keep a sleep diary where I would estimate the hours of sleep each night. When I started CPAP therapy in April '12, I could see the number of hours of CPAP usage each night by using Sleey Head software. I just know about how long it takes me to go to sleep and I usually don't wake up for very long during the night.
dbpalm,
I did see a behavioral sleep doctor. He led me through CBT-I which definitely helped my insomnia issues. I continue to improve (even since this post began) but it is a slow-go. I just think that either the sleep apnea OR the damage done by prolonged anxiety (or both!) somehow messed up my brain (brain chemistry, neuropathways, etc) and it's taking time for my brain to recover.
I don't generally have a lot of anxiety. The anxiety I had last year (when the chronic insomnia started) was mostly due to some stomach issues. I suppose I'm a hypochondriac to a degree but I'm learning to chill out with health issues as I get older.
But I was on Mirtazipine 15mgs, which knocked me out within 2 hours flat! It didn't help my fatigue getting more sleep, but it definitely helped with the frustration of laying awake and I stopped getting sick so frequently. The CPAP doesn't work for me, but I'm still looking for ways to get me more energized.
Patience is needed, but better sleep can be attained.
My energy level and head fog/aches continue to improve (even since I started this discussion on 6/26). It seems that my "bad" days are not as "bad" and the good days seem to be getting even better.
It's amazing to me how much damage I can do to my body and how long the recovery can be. In my case, I don't know how much of the symptoms I'm feeling are due to the sleep apnea vs. the chronic insomnia (chronic insomnia reared it's ugly head first!). I do know that prolonged anxiety can cause some physiological problems (e.g. HPA axis thrown off).
My hope is that I can continue to let God teach me to surrender to Him. Anxiety is the impaired form of fear.....anxiety is the process where I try to control things that I cannot control. By surrendering....I no longer try to control and therefore my anxiety level diminishes/disappears. Of course when I speak of controlling....I do have control is certain behaviors that do impact recovery. What I'm talking about though is that there are things that go on in my life/body that are outside by control.
Keep sharing your stories everyone! We can continue to lift one another up.